African markets are inherently peer-to-peer. And peer-to-peer markets, whether formal digital marketplaces or informal trading groups on WhatsApp and Telegram, have played an important role in the adoption of crypto across African markets.
According to Chainalysis, the transaction volume from peer-to-peer exchanges in sub-Saharan Africa more than doubles the share of the next closest region. And indeed, this peer-to-peer nature of African markets extends beyond just crypto, from community lending to the airtime trading and user behavior that predated formal mobile money.
To tell the peer-to-peer story and to interrogate this dynamic further, we're joined by two guests, Michael Kimani, the Co-founder of Fonbnk, and Emmanuel Babilola, or "Babz", the CEO of Bundle and the Director of Fiat at Binance Africa.
This season of The Flip is sponsored by Ripple.
00:00 - In today's episode, we're exploring Africa's peer-to-peer story.
02:59 - Introducing Michael Kimani and Fonbank.
03:52 - Introducing Emmanuel "Babz" Babilola and Bundle.
06:30- Today's P2P crypto trading reminds Michael of the early days of airtime currency trading.
09:56 - What we're seeing with the adoption of crypto is people trying to exit from the current financial system.
14:07 - Exploring the challenges with P2P.
24:40 - What does the future look like?
27:16 - Michael's recommendations.
28:44 - Babz's recommendations.
Resources discussed in this episode:
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